2025 TikTok Trend Report: What Brands & Creators Must Know
Nov 8, 2025Comment Grid Editorial Team12 min read
# 2025 TikTok Trend Report: What Brands & Creators Must Know
Published: Nov 8, 2025 Source: Comment Grid Editorial Team
1. Opening: Why This Report Exists
TikTok is no longer the “new kid”. 2025 is the year the app turns five in many Western markets, yet its growth curve is still steeper than Instagram at the same age.
Average US adult time-spend hit 58 min/day in Q3 2025 (up 11% YoY, [eMarketer, 2025-09](https://www.insiderintelligence.com/)).
If you are a marketer, product owner or creator, the only wrong move is to treat the platform like 2022’s highlight reel.
This report translates 11 months of TikTok behaviour into plain-language actions you can apply today.
2. Methodology: How We Picked The Trends
We scraped 4.2M public TikTok posts (Jan–Nov 2025) via the TikTok Research API, then layered:
- engagement data
- trend-tracking blogs
- trade press
- platform statements
All numbers are rounded: “M” = million, “B” = billion.
Charts live in the appendix so you don’t have to wade through spreadsheets.
3. Macro Narratives (The 4 Big “Whys”)
| # | Narrative | Proof-point |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI Co-Creation is the new filter | April’s [“AI Action-Figure” meme](https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/news/tiktok-trends-april-2025/) generated 1.8B views in 19 days. |
| 2 | Nostalgia is speeding up | Tim McGraw’s 1997 hit re-entered TikTok’s Top-10 chart 28 years later. |
| 3 | Physical comedy > perfect aesthetics | Single-tooth filter outperformed gloss-level videos 2.3× (NewEngen, 2025-08). |
| 4 | Seasonality still wins | #pumpkinpatch = 500M views; post 6–8 weeks early to catch the ramp. |
4. Month-by-Month Cheat Sheet (2025)
| Month | Trend | Views / Stat | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | “Influencer Confessions” | 670M | Home.shooglebox (2025-01-18) |
| Feb | “Miss, You Forgot Something” fashion builds | 480M | Clipchamp Blog (2025-02) |
| Mar | “I Tried to Be the Moon” hair switch | 310M | WebsiteBuilderExpert (2025-03) |
| Apr | “AI Action-Figure” | 1.8B | NewEngen (2025-04) |
| May | “Holy Airball” wrong assumptions | 920M | Accio (2025-05) |
| Jun | “Top 10 Photos” carousel | 1.1B | NewEngen (2025-06) |
| Jul | “Big Mama” body-pos | 640M | NewEngen (2025-07) |
| Aug | “Snapchat Filter Characters” | 950M | NapoleonCat (2025-08) |
| Sep | “Rare Aesthetic” nostalgia | 1.3B | NewEngen (2025-09) |
| Oct | “Group 7” + jump-scare reveals | 2.1B | NewEngen (2025-10) |
| Nov | “What’s Going On” mash-up | 870k videos | Indy100 (2025-11) |
5. High-Performance Content Formats
| Format | Length | Key Metric | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dance / Challenge | 15–30 s | +34% follower growth weekly | RecurPost (2025-08) |
| Micro-Tutorial | 30–60 s | 1.6× saves vs prettiness | Planly (2025 internal) |
| Comedy Skit | <45 s | Punchline ≤3 s | Planly (2025) |
| POV / Story-Time | 45–120 s | >35% completion triggers boost | TikTok Creator Portal (2025) |
6. Emerging Tech & Features
- CapCut Multi-Modal templates cut editing time 70%; early adopters saw +25% views.
- TikTok Shop V-Fulfil voice checkout: 18% of beta users completed 1-click purchases.
- AR 2.0 (3-D objects) rolling out holiday 2025; CPMs drop 15% during honeymoon.
7. Category Playbooks
| Category | 2025 Hack | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Beauty | Show product box in “after” frame → +22% recall | Nielsen TikTok Brand Lift (2025-Q1) |
| Food | 95% of top FoodTok ≤35s; auto-captions essential | Planly (2025) |
| Tech/SaaS | “AI intern POV” humanises B2B | NewEngen (2025 field study) |
| Finance | #nospendchallenge +80% YoY; use pinned comment for risk warning | TikTok Compliance (2025) |
| Travel | 3-phase series = +48% saved-post rate | TheShortMedia (2025-11) |
8. Influencer Collabs: Size vs Engagement
| Tier | Median Engagement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nano (5–50k) | 9.8% | Planly Benchmarks (2025) |
| Micro (50–250k) | 7.4% | Planly Benchmarks (2025) |
| Mid (250k–1M) | 5.9% | Planly Benchmarks (2025) |
| Macro (1M+) | 4.1% | Planly Benchmarks (2025) |
9. Paid Media Quick Hits
- TopView CPM = $32 (Q3 2025), down 18% YoY.
- Smart+ Performance campaigns: 1.9× ROAS when SKU count >50.
- Spark Ads: boost within 2 hours of organic momentum.
10. 2026 Planning Calendar (Start Now)
| Month | Angle |
|---|---|
| Jan | New-Year confessionals / finance resets |
| Feb | Galentine’s humour / Valentine’s transformations |
| Mar | Spring-clean hacks / hair makeovers |
| Apr | AI co-creation 2.0 (video-to-video filters) |
| May | Body-pos summer prep / SPF |
| Jun | Pride / graduation trips / budget flights |
| Jul | Body-pos beachwear / heat-wave hacks |
| Aug | Back-to-school tech / lunch-box nostalgia |
| Sep | 2014 Tumblr revival |
| Oct | Halloween AR pets |
| Nov | Singles-Day 11/11 hauls / early Black Friday |
| Dec | “Quiet Christmas” hygge / prediction tarot |
11. 5 Action Lists You Can Email Today
Brand Managers
- Re-cut top YouTube testimonials into 35-second TikTok stories.
- Build an “AI package” version of hero product.
- Book October creative by July.
Creators
- Weekly challenges beat one-off virals.
- Use first comment for niche hashtags (#corecore).
- Batch-shoot POV series.
Community Managers
- Pin funniest duet for instant social proof.
- Reply to top comments with video within 24h.
- Turn FAQs into 15-second green-screen rants.
Media Buyers
- Allocate 20% test budget to Smart+ after a 50-conversion baseline.
- Spark Ads only for ≥8% engagement posts.
- Best CPM windows: 18:00–22:00.
Strategists
- Build a 30-hook sound bank.
- Map KPIs to funnel stage (views → saves → clicks).
- Update TikTok Shop feed weekly.
12. Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
- AI + nostalgia + physical comedy = 2025’s biggest emotional levers.
- Seasonal spikes begin 6–8 weeks early.
- Micro-tutorials & carousels over-index on saves (top FYP signal).
- Nano creators deliver the cheapest high-intent attention.
- TikTok Shop checkout is shortening the funnel — optimise feeds now.
Continue reading
[Beyond the Boo: A Complete Guide to Halloween Marketing with Comment Giveaways ›](https://www.commentgrid.com/blog/halloween-marketing-comment-giveaways)